Cell Press via ScienceDailyResearchers have found a gene that helps explain why some people appear more youthful than others. The gene is well known for producing red hair and pale skin. Now, it appears that variation in this same gene is also related to differences in how old people look to other people — their perceived age. People carrying particular MC1R variants in their DNA look, on average, almost two years older than they are.READ MORE

LiveScience via The Huffington PostTwins tend to run in families, and now researchers have identified two genes that make women more likely to conceive nonidentical twins.
Both genes are related to the production and processing of the hormone that helps oocytes mature.
“There’s an enormous interest in twins, and in why some women have twins while others don’t,” study co-author Dorret Boomsma, a biological psychologist at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, said in a statement.READ MORE

Medical DailyIt’s nice to think that if you regularly slather on high-SPF sunscreen and cut back on the number of burgers you eat you won’t get cancer. While these are certainly healthy habits, each person’s risk for disease depends more on the individual, and the complex genetic changes they accumulate over time — something scientists refer to as the cancer genome.READ MORE

Health Data ManagementIn the late 1800s, automobiles were the work of individual artisans who carefully crafted their creations from start to finish. The process was slow and painstaking, and each finished product was a little different than the others. They were also incredibly expensive, which is why only the wealthy owned them.READ MORE

CNBCTo get small with medicine, this "machine" will have to get big — really, really, really big.
A major research project backed by Hewlett Packard Enterprise aims, among other things, to one day help doctors tailor medical treatment for individual patients by quickly crunching data from massive amounts of patient information — related to genes, diseases, personal behaviors and treatment history — assembled from around the world.READ MORE

Health Information DesignsWith the pharmaceutical industry shifting focus away from manufacturing its traditional, well-known and widely used drugs — many of which will lose exclusivity over approximately the next five years — how will the turn toward orphan drugs affect overall pharmacy expenditures? Understanding the nature of orphan drugs and the reasons for their increasing prominence can help point to an answer.READ MORE

ScienceDailyTiny electronic sensors and devices that can be implanted in the body and then dissolve almost without a trace are getting closer to reality. Scientists have tested several biodegradable materials, including DNA, proteins and metals, for making transient electronics. Now one team has taken another step toward this goal. They created a dissolvable device component out of egg proteins, magnesium and tungsten.READ MORE

ScienceDailyStem cell therapy is a rapidly evolving and promising treatment for spinal-cord injuries. According to a new literature review, different types of stem cells vary in their ability to help restore function, and an ideal treatment protocol remains unclear pending further clinical research.READ MORE

MedscapeSeven patients with severe myasthenia gravis who received autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplants have experienced long-term remission that has been symptom and treatment free for many years.
"We are always reluctant to talk about this type of disease being cured, but these patients have all been disease free without any maintenance therapy since the procedure, which is very encouraging," one of the treating physicians, Harold Atkins M.D., University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, told Medscape Medical News.READ MORE

RevCycle IntelligenceAccountable care organizations partnerships form in Arizona, Texas and Mississippi in 2016.
The number of accountable care organizations continue to increase across the county. Earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced 121 new Medicare Accountable Care Organization participants. Between 105 and 176 million patients may be covered through an ACO by 2020, a previous report noted.READ MORE

FierceHealthFinanceHospitals and healthcare systems under pressure to transition to value-based care would do well to beef up their ties to integrated healthcare networks that have expertise in primary care and multispecialty group practice, according to a recent post at NEJM Catalyst. A specific example is Emory Healthcare system in Atlanta affiliating with CareMore Health System, which operates Medicare Advantage health plans in several states. READ MORE

Business InsiderA new drug that aims to treat a serious symptom of Parkinson's disease just got approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
The drug, called Nuplazid, was developed by Acadia Pharmaceuticals. It is designed to treat psychosis, a symptom of Parkinson's that can involve hallucinations and delusions, and it's the first of its kind to ever get approved by the FDA.READ MORE

Genoptix Medical LaboratoryGenoptix, a Novartis company, is a leading CAP-accredited and CLIA-certified specialized laboratory focused on delivering diagnostic services to hematology/oncology patients and the physicians who treat them.

The Washington PostThe $10,000-a-month cancer drug has become the new normal, to the dismay of physicians and patients who increasingly face the burden of financial toxicity. A pair of new studies illustrates just how recently that pricing model has come into vogue and pulls back the curtain on the strange market forces that push prices steadily higher in the years after the treatments are launched.READ MORE

The Associated Press via NBC NewsExpect insurers to seek significant premium increases under President Barack Obama's healthcare law, in a wave of state-level requests rippling across the country ahead of the political conventions this summer.
Insurers say the law's coverage has been a financial drain for many of them, and they're setting the stage for 2017 hikes that in some cases could reach well into the double digits.READ MORE

ForbesYou can take this to the bank. Every innovation in the production of every good or service — anything that lowers costs or increases quality — originates on the supply side of the market. There has never been a successful innovation that originated on the demand side.
This principle applies to healthcare in spades. READ MORE

Seattle Genetics Announces FDA Regular Approval of ADCETRIS® for Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma Patients at High Risk of Relapse or Progression. Click here to view more information.

Sandoz, a Novartis company, announced today that Zarxio(TM) (filgrastim-sndz) is now available in the United States. Zarxio is the first biosimilar approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the first to launch in the US. Please click here for more information.
.